VAKANIA CITY MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS!

May 18. 1988!

Sifu Bailong Fang calmly provided his young pupil Jack Varon with a fresh water bottle as he sat in his seat with a towel around his back. "Thank you, Sifu."

"Hey no need to thank me. You're doing great out there. To come this far on your own is incredible. Nobody will ever be able to tell you otherwise."

"But...I never would've made it this far without you."

Sifu shook his head. "I could only train you and offer you advice. The skill is all you. You put in all those hours of work and it's paid off. You should be proud, Jack."

"I am. Of myself. Of you. Of both of us." He drank the water. "Ohhhh that's good. Thanks again, Sifu, for everything."

"Once again you are welcome but are you able to continue in your condition?"

Jack considered his chances. Archie and Scott had hammered him in his matches with them. Just like Sensei Dreadmaw had no doubt ordered them to. He'd seen him advising them before the matches. Not unusual but with how crazy they'd gotten out there on the mat he had his suspicions. Their job was obvious. To go after him with everything they had and bring the pain to gas him and tire him out to either take him out of the tournament or at least beat him down enough that Kelvin would be able to win easily. Speaking of whom, Jack had noticed that Kelvin had been fighting relatively easy fighters in comparison to the beasts of the city that Jack had been fighting through all tournament long. While he couldn't prove it per say it was quite obvious that he'd somehow fixed the matches at least enough to give Kelvin a free ride to the finals while Jack was stuck climbing the ladder against everyone else. It was certainly effective. Wave after wave of pain were shooting through his body. He'd been taking a beating all tournament long but his matches with Archie and Scott involved both of them going insane on him as hard as they could while still technically staying within the rules to not get disqualified.

His body hurt all over. His legs hurt, his arms hurt, everything, but nothing as much as chest. It was exhausting and the pain was taking its toll on him....but he would not give into it. Not now. Not ever again. He downed his ice water and pushed the pain out of his mind. He would deal with it later after this was over. Regardless of who won he would see this through to the end. "Lets do this, Sifu."

Archie Johnson and Scott Walker were The Dreadmaw Dojo's latest casualties. Both of them laid out in the medical wing being looked after by the doctors.

"I just don't get it. How the hell did a fucking nobody like Jack do this to them?" Kelvin Powers asked his Sensei. Besides him, Archie and Scott were two of the best in the Dojo but despite going after him with everything they had that little rat had not only won but taken them completely out of commission! He saw them beat on that punk like he'd never seen before and he just kept coming after them! What kind of freak was he? What, did that monster give him drugs or something?

"A word. Outside."

Kelvin got back up and followed him out of the room to speak in the hallway.

"Did you see them? Did you see the pain they were in? What he did to them?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"Donny, Jeromy, Reyes, Shayne, Ty, Gaston, Archie, Scott...even Linda and Teri! He's humiliated us this entire tournament. Mocked us, belittled us, embarrassed us and done that to all of your friends. Now what are you going to do about it Kelvin?"

Kelvin smiled. "I'm gonna turn up the heat and roast that damn nerd out there! In front of everyone!"

"Good boy. I want you to hurt him you understand me? I want you to hurt him so badly he'll never fight again. I want you to destroy him and take him out of commission."

"Yes, Sensei. I'll do it. I'm going to thrash him out there."

"That's right Kelvin. Because you're the best. In this stadium. In the arena. In the dojo. In this city. In the world. That little rodent has nothing on you. Go out there and remind him of his place."

"You got it, Sensei, I won't fail you."

They bowed to each other and Kelvin walked back into the room to check on his friends. Donny was the first to fall. No surprise there. He always was too soft for the dojo. But then the others started to fall. Jeremy was next. Then Reyes. Then Shayne. Linda and Teri had been the biggest upsets. They might've been girls but they were very skilled and it was a shock to see even them lose to Jack. Gaston was the most shocking one. He might not have been all that skilled but he was big and a wrecking machine. The biggest gun they had. So when even he was 10 Counted the entire Dojo was left in shock. He didn't blame the guys for being so angry at him or going wild in the tournament either. Archie and Scott were always tight with Linda and Teri but now even they'd fallen....Kelvin hated to admit it but he was getting worried.

What kind of monster had Jack turned into?

No. NO! He couldn't think like that! He had to focus on tearing him apart in the ring. "Guys, I know you can hear me. I know you're all tired from the fight but I want you to guys to watch the fight the closest and cheer me on. I'm going to tear him apart for what he did to all of you. Nobody humiliates my friends and our Dojo and walks. Nobody."

He bowed and walked out of the room. "Time to turn up the heat. I'm going to roast that damn nerd today!"